Riding Shotgun in the 1,500 HP Bugatti Chiron Is a Bit Like Sleep Paralysis

After seeing Jethro Bovingdon getting a shotgun ride in the 1,500-pony machine, the idea above seemed natural. For one thing, Drive Tribe's editor gets nailed to his seat throughout the experience.

Since air drag is proportional to square speed, cars tend to "lose" their grunt as the speedometer moves into the triple-digit area. Nevertheless, the Volkswagen Group's crown jewel seems to ignore physics, with the passenger being glued to his seat as the quad-turbo W16 heart of the car goes through the gears.

The hypercar gets manhandled by Bugatti test driver Loris Bicocchi - the 59-year shows a smile that's as wide as the Chiron's air intakes, as he keeps the throttle welded to the floor.

Then again, when your CV includes positions at Lamborghini, Pagani, Koenigsegg and KTM (think: X-Bow), it's only normal to be this relaxes while throwing a journo around in your company car.

With Jethro having driven a Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse just before climbing aboard the Chiron, it's hard not to imagine him wishing to get behind the wheel of the monster himself. And this is where the idea mentioned in the intro once again comes to mind. Sure, it might be a massive privilege to be "chauffeured" by Loris Bicocchi, but the impossibility to grab the wheel comes as a bit of an issue, albeit the kind of problem it's good to have.

Some say the Veyron stint also helped with clearing up the road, which was covered in leaves, but we wouldn't pay attention to such talk.

Oh well, at least the journalist got to compare the experiences delivered by the two Bugattis, which is something very few aficionados can say.